Shoe tree



April! 23, 193 5.

s. A. ,EDDINS SHOE TREE Filed May 1'7, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR;

April! 23, was. s. A. EDDINS SHOE TREE Filed May 17, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR I Patented Apr. 23, 1935 time SHQE TREE Application May 17, 1933, Serial No. 671,493

Claims.

This invention relates to shoe trees or forms of the type designed primarily for the purpose of holding the vamp and toe portions of the upper of a shoe in a smooth condition. Such trees are used chiefly in womens shoes. They are intended to be inserted in the shoes when the latter are taken off the feet, and are designed to straighten out the wrinkled portions of the Vamps and to support these parts of the shoes in a smooth condition while the shoes are not in use.

The present invention aims to devise an article of this character which can be manufactured economically, but which at the same time will be highly effective and very convenient to use.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a shoe tree embodying the invention in the form at present preferred;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the tree shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33, Fig. 1, the upper part of the tree being broken away;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan, end and side views, respectively of the spring wire frame which forms a part of the tree;

Fig. '7 is a perspective View showing the tree in its operative position in a shoe; and

Fig. 8 is a transverse, vertical section through the vamp portion of a shoe showing the tree operatively positioned therein.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 6, the tree there shown comprises a toe form 2 which preferably is made of some relatively stiff but resilient sheet material such as celluloid, pyroxylin, cellulose acetate, or the like. It is molded to substantially the contour of the corresponding portion of a shoe last so that it will fit snugly within'the toe portion of a shoe and support the vamp and adjacent parts of the upper. Along the margin of the form at the bottom thereof is an inwardly projecting flange 3 which is widened at about the ball portion of the form to provide two inwardly projecting lugs 5- 3. Secured to these lugs is a spring wire frame which, in the particular form shown, is provided with two eyes 5--5 through which rivets 6-5 are inserted, these rivets being extended through the lugs and expanded to; fasten the frame securely to the opposite sides of the form. The frame is extended in front of the eyes to provide two overlapping curved end portions (Cl. ll2--l23.4)

i"i that fit snugly into the groove or angle immediately above the flange and serve to reinforce the edges of the form. At its rearward end the frame is raped to form a curved finger piece 8 which may conveniently be made by bending the wire of the frame into a U-shape and. then bending both legs of the part so formed, at points adjacent to the bridge piece of the part which connects the two legs, to produce a curved end piece of the shape clearly illustrated in the drawings.

The frame is made of spring wire and it is so biased or tensioned that it serves to hold the side walls of the toe form spread apart or expanded laterally, but yields when the form is forced into the toe portion of a shoe which is narrower than the form so as to enable the form to adjust itself to the width of the shoe. At the same time the lateral pressure so exerted on the form by the spring frame expands the form within the shoe and stretches it gently but sufliciently to cause it to hold the upper in a smooth condition provided, of course, it is not too badly wrinkled.

The fit of the form within the shoe and the stretching action which it exerts on the upper is further facilitated by so shaping the curved end portions '5 of the frame that when they are not in the toe form they will be maintained by their inherent resiliency in the upwardly inclined or raised positions in which they are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Consequently, when this frame is inserted in the toe form and the end pieces 1 consequently are swung down into substantially the same horizontal plane by their engagement with the walls of the marginal groove in the form, this movement will serve to depress the eyes 55 and thus operate through them to hold the lugs 4-4 in downwardly inclined or lowered positions. In other words, these portions of the spring frame are so biased that they normally depress the lugs 44 as shown approximately in Fig. 3. It is desirable that when the toe form is inserted in a shoe it shall bottom firmly on the insole of the shoe. The engagement of the lugs l4 with the sole will tend to raise these lugs, as illustrated in Fig. 8, and this movement, in turn, will force the form upwardly, tending further to stretch the upper and straighten out any wrinkles in it. In order to enable the toe form to bottom in the shoe, as just described, the portion of the spring frame between the finger piece 8 and the eyes 5-5 is bent upwardly, as shown at S in Fig. 6, to cause the rearward portion of the frame either to clear the shank portion of the insole, or at least to reduce the pressure of said portion of the frame on the shank. The form is held in the shoe by virtue of the fact that it is expanded laterally in the wider portion of the iorepart so that any rearward movement of the form out of its operative position requires a lateral contraction of the form, and consequently, is resisted by the resiliency of the spring frame.

The tree provided by this invention is highly efiective in. holding the forepart of the shoe in the desired shape due to the features above described. In addition, its construction is such that it can be manufactured very economically. Since the form has a considerable degree of lateral expansion and contraction a single form will fit a considerable variety of widths of shoes so that it is necessary to supply the form only in three widths, namely, narrow, medium and wide, in order to fit approximately the entire range of widths of womens shoes.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is contemplated that minor variations in details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In. a shoe tree, the combination of a toe form having resilient walls and provided with lugs projecting inwardly from the margins of the form at the opposite sides thereof, and a spring wire frame fitting into and reinforcing the edges of the forepart and having eyes secured to said lugs and serving to yieldingly expand said form laterally.

2. In a shoe tree, the combination'of a toe form having resilient walls and provided with lugs projecting inwardly from the margins of the form at the opposite sides thereof, a spring wire frame having eyes secured to said lugs and so biased as to exert a downward pressure on said lugs tending to depress them relatively to the sides of the form, said spring frame serving to yieldingly expand said form.

3. In a shoe tree, the combination of a toe form having resilient walls and provided with lugs projecting inwardly from the margins of the form at the opposite sides thereof, a spring wire frame fitting into and reinforcing the edges of the forepart and having eyes secured to said lugs and also having a rearwardly projecting finger piece, said spring frame serving to yieldingly expand said form laterally.

i. In a shoe tree, the combination of a toe form made of relatively stiff but resilient sheet material and having an inwardly projecting flange extending around the margin of the form at the bottom thereof, a spring wire frame secured to said flange at opposite sides of the ball portion of the form and including integral curved portions lying in the groove immediately above said flange, said frame serving to expand said form laterally and having portions fitting in the groove around the toe and being so biased as to exert a downward pressure on said flanges at the'ball portion of the form.

5. In a shoe tree according to preceding claim 4, a construction in which said spring frame is provided with a rearwardly extending finger piece, and also with an upwardly bent portion connecting said finger piece with the parts of the frame which are secured to said flanges.

SEXTUS A. EDDINS. 

